Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 289: Encountering a corpse? Professional counterpart...

At this time, the sky was just beginning to turn pale, and a ray of sunlight shone through the clouds onto the winding path.

On both sides of the mountain road, ancient trees are towering, and their branches and leaves are interwoven into a dense green shade, blocking most of the light, making the path appear deep and mysterious.

Occasionally, a few bird calls could be heard from the woods, clear and melodious, but were quickly swallowed up by the deeper silence.

"Da da da……"

I could only hear the sound of horse hooves approaching on the path.

A young man wearing a simple robe was riding on an old horse, his body swaying forward in the rhythm of the horse's pace.

After a moment, Xiao Ran opened his eyes, glanced at the mountains in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh that traveling in this era is really not easy.

If Zhao Shixiong didn't have a specialization in horsemanship in his skill book, riding a horse would be a real pain.

Speaking of which, Zhao Shixiong’s skill book also contains a complete set of palm techniques, the Great Xuan Hands of Heaven and Earth.

It is indeed a good palm technique, but it requires 500 energy points. Xiao Ran plans to exchange it and integrate it into the painter's body. Then, combined with the painter's [Worship of Evil] method, it will be able to produce miraculous effects.

When you see the Ruzhou boundary marker at the intersection.

Xiao Ran took a look at the two paths in front of him. One led to the back and then directly southwest to Langkou Peak, while the other led out of Ruzhou and all the way to Hedong.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Ran pulled the reins and walked straight towards the east of the river.

Although Xiao Ran had been invited by the second daughter of the Gao family to go to Langkou Peak to participate in some kind of gathering, he was not very interested.

That was not the world he liked.

Most of them are a bunch of grasshopper heroes and chivalrous men to be sure, but too many people will cause trouble. Besides, it is easy to tell that these people gathered together not just for a party.

Xiao Ran didn't want to be used as a gun by others. What's more, he was naturally averse to places where people gathered. He preferred to be freer when he was alone.

So he pulled the reins and headed straight for Hedong.

This trip to Hedong is a good opportunity to observe the extent of the so-called yellow disaster and make a judgment in advance.

As for Lu Cheng...

Xiao Ran looked back and after thinking carefully, there was nothing to worry about.

On the one hand, the treatment of Brother Lu is comparable to that of Tang Monk, and he is also protected by Emperor Guan. Now that he has conquered Yu Deng and his gang, with the help of the intelligence organization of [Qingqi Pavilion], there are no obstacles in Ruzhou now. There is only one thing Lu Cheng has to do.

Send out troops violently, send out troops crazily.

As for how to train, that is his business.

I can't help and it's boring to stay in Ruzhou, so I might as well go out for a walk.

After leaving Ruzhou, the mountains and forests along the way were desolate. Occasionally, a caravan passed by from Hedong. They looked at the back of Xiao Ran and his horse and couldn't help shaking their heads.

If he meets someone with a kind heart, they will stop him and tell him that the situation in Hedong is not optimistic and he should not get involved in this muddy water.

But if Xiao Ran asked them why they were pessimistic, no one could explain it clearly.

In fact, before setting off, Xiao Ran had sorted out the information about the current Hedong area.

It is not entirely pessimistic. At least the powerful people in Hedong did not take the impending yellow disaster seriously.

But a different kind of emotion has already developed among the people. Food prices have begun to rise little by little, and refugees can be seen entering the city every day.

These merchants who were willing to give up their businesses and move away from Hedong early on were only a few lucky ones. They couldn't tell what was wrong, but they could keenly sense the danger.

In addition, merchants are profit-driven, and for them relocation is just transferring goods from one place to another to sell, so moving is the most natural and fastest way.

As for the people behind, by the time they realize something is wrong, it will be too late to leave.

Xiao Ran stopped and walked along the way, and it was surprisingly smooth and peaceful.

Xiao Ran felt depressed as he had expected to be a chivalrous man but nothing happened.

Xiao Ran didn't stop until he arrived at Jinyang City in Hedong.

Compared with Ruzhou, although Jinyang City is still bustling with people, there is a feeling of depression everywhere.

On the streets of the city, one can see refugees huddled in corners, holding bowls and begging passers-by on the roadside.

Xiao Ran didn't want to stay here for long. After a short rest, he planned to leave Jinyang and continue heading east.

But I had just found a teahouse to sit down and called the waiter to bring a pot of hot tea when someone ran in: "The city is closed, the city is closed, a notice has just been issued, no one can enter or leave Jinyang now, hurry, go buy food, it will be too late if you go too late."

When everyone heard this, their faces suddenly changed. They no longer had the appetite to drink tea and they all stood up and ran out.

However, there were some people who did not move. They were all wearing silk, and it was not difficult to tell from their expressions that they all had no shortage of food at home.

However, if you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries. Although they are not short of food, they are still worried.

"It's bad, it must be the Yellow Plague." "No, although the Yellow Plague is severe, it is only in Datong, Chengde, and Yiwu, and has not yet reached our Hedong. It is said that there has been a hunger epidemic recently. It is said that once infected with the hunger epidemic, people are neither human nor ghost, just like a corpse ghost that has lost its mind, eating whatever it sees."

"Wouldn't that make it a monster?"

"Oh, isn't it? It is said that originally only the people of a small village were infected with hunger and plague, and now more and more people are getting sick outside. I heard that the prefect has already started to invite the immortal from the Zhenxian Temple to come here. I hope that after the immortal arrives, he can bless us to be safe and sound."

Everyone was talking in a hurry.

The voice was loud to begin with, and there were not many people in the teahouse, so Xiao Ran heard every word.

"Why did another hunger epidemic pop up?"

Xiao Ran frowned, remembering that Lu Cheng had said before that in addition to the Yellow Disaster, there were also evil spirits and man-made disasters. Could this be caused by some evil spirit? ?

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran didn't plan to go any further and decided to wait here to see what was going on.

"Dong dong dong..."

At this time, there was a sound of gongs and drums on the street, followed by two notices posted on the door outside the teahouse.

Everyone came over to take a look, then walked away with disgust on their faces.

why?
The above is the notice of conscription for corvée labor.

Xiao Ran had read about it in Zhao Shixiong's memory before. Here men had to perform labor service for twenty days every year, with two more days added in a leap year. If they did not want to perform labor service, they could pay silk or cloth instead, which was equivalent to three feet of silk or three feet seven inches and five cents of cloth per day.

In addition to conscripting corvée labor, they also specially recruited some professionals to work for the government.

For example, runners, doctors, etc.

Xiao Ran took a look and noticed that there was a line of small words below, which turned out to be a job to recruit corpse-seekers.

Isn’t this a professional service delivered to your door?
Seeing this, he called the waiter over and pointed to the small words "Recruitment of Corpse Hunters" below: "Hey, waiter, I just arrived and want to make a living. I wonder who should I report to in this place?"

The clerk thought he was trying to get a job as an official, but when he looked over, he found out that he was actually trying to do the business of a cobbler. He immediately said with disgust, "Turn left in front, it's Beimen Street, go find it yourself, you have hands and feet, why don't you do something else instead of doing business with a dead person, get out of here!"

It's no wonder that the guy despised him so much. The second cobbler was the lowest of the lowest classes, with a status similar to that of a beggar. He was looked down upon wherever he went.

Xiao Ran had already gotten used to this. In reality, everyone was so equal that whenever someone talked about their profession, they would feel disgusted, not to mention this era.

Following the direction pointed by the waiter, Xiao Ran walked through two streets and took a closer look. He saw two rows of thatched houses standing behind the streets and alleys. There was a pungent smell in the air, which made Xiao Ran take a deep breath: "Hiss! That's the smell."

He immediately stepped inside.

"Who are you looking for?"

At this moment, someone shouted from the thatched hut nearby, and then an old man poked his head out of the hut, looking Xiao Ran up and down.

Xiao Ran also looked at the old man, and seeing that he didn't look like he had corpse qi on him, he said, "Sir, I saw a notice from the government that they wanted to recruit corpse hunters, so I came here to have a look and try to make a living."

Hearing this, the old man's eyes widened immediately, and then he smiled bitterly and said, "Child, you are not old, why are you doing this? This is not the way for a decent person. Listen to my advice, leave quickly, and never come here again."

Facing the old man's persuasion, Xiao Ran smiled and said, "Old man, I don't like what you said. It's just sewing a corpse, what's the big deal? Are you afraid that I will take away your business and deliberately trick me to leave?"

"Oh, you!!"

The old man's face darkened when he heard that. He looked around to see if there was anyone around. He grabbed Xiao Ran's arm and walked back a few steps. "Go and have a look. There are corpses everywhere. It's already autumn. There will be corpses delivered every day. Do you think I'm lying to you? This business is very evil. If you're not strong enough, you won't survive for two days."

Xiao Ran took a look and saw that there were indeed many corpses piled up behind him. He couldn't help but ask, "Who are these corpses..."

"They all died in prison. If someone claimed their bodies, they would be rewarded with money. If no one claimed them, they would be burned."

The old man looked up at Xiao Ran and said, "Are you sure you want to do this job?"

"It's just a way to make a living. If you have food, drink and a place to live, why should you be afraid of these corpses?"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Xiao Ran, the old man sighed and took Xiao Ran to a thatched house nearby: "Then you can live here. This was originally the place where an old cobbler lived. You came by chance. He just died the night before yesterday. As for the wages, if you sew a corpse, I will give you a sign. You can take the sign to the government office in front to exchange for money and food."

"Okay!" Xiao Ran took a look and found that there were plenty of tables, chairs and benches inside. The space was quite large, so it would be comfortable to live alone.

"Don't you want to ask how the old cobbler died?"

Seeing that he was not afraid at all, the old man stood at the door and leaned against the door frame and asked.

"How did you die?"

"That night a headless female corpse was delivered. There was no head and we didn't know how to sew it. The old cobbler took over the job, and guess what happened."

"do not know."

"He sewed his head to the female corpse's neck." The old man narrowed his eyes and stared at Xiao Ran with a gloomy face.

But Xiao Ran scratched his head and looked at the old man in confusion: "Isn't that... a huge profit?"

elder:"???"

(End of this chapter)